The First Line: When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.
Set in Romania during Ceauşecu's reign, this story follows four college friends over the years as they endure searches, interrogations, and the rising tides of fear brought on by the oppressive society in which they live. They hide their poems, guard their conversations, and use secret codes in their letters. They're assigned jobs after college, then those jobs are taken away. And they each dream of escape.
This book drew me in with the first sentence and didn't let go until the last. It's a challenging, yet compelling read, with a narrative style reminiscent of two of Virginia Woolf's novels: Jacob's Room and The Waves--which means this novel isn't exactly simple or straight-forward, but if you have a little patience, all the pieces do eventually come together. Műller's storytelling is unflinching, and sometimes heartbreaking; there's also a lot of poetry in her prose. To be honest, when I decided to read this book, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it, or even get through it, but I ended up really liking it! So here's to another outstanding read in 2017.
Happy Reading!
I'm reading Elizabeth Kostova's new book The Shadow Land. It takes a while, a rather long while, for her to get to the meat of the story, but when she does.... The novel is set in Bulgaria which borders Romania and one thread of the story goes back to the Russian occupation and the same oppressive regime that much of the Eastern Block endured. Interrogations, arrests, and the Soviet version of concentration camps. Even after that dark period is over, the shadows remain. In the West, we sort of forgot or had little information about what happened in these countries after the war, even though we knew about a divided Berlin.
ReplyDeleteYeah, what happened in countries like Romania, Bulgaria, and even Lithuania never got talked about very much. Which is sad. I'm glad there are books out there now that tell those stories, too.
DeleteAre you liking The Shadow Land? I read The Historian by her and really loved that book, but I haven't read The Swan Thieves yet.
Wow!This sounds so good! I have two of her books, but have yet to read either. Seems like I need to read them sooner rather than later. And I need to add this one to the pile as well ;)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! It's a book I could pick up right now and read again. I'll have to look for her other novels, too. :)
DeleteI love when I'm skeptical going into a book and it ends up surprisingly good!
ReplyDeleteThat's the best kind of bookish surprise! (I hate when it goes the other way and I end up hating a book I thought I would love.)
DeleteI love how sometimes a book can surprise you so much, and you end up liking it despite thinking you probably won't. Sometimes picking up a book you would never have picked before gives you the best reading experience!
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
I completely agree! :)
DeleteThat is a great first line and so true the majority of the time!
ReplyDelete